Machu Picchu: Part 1

Thursday the 23rd we started our big Machu Picchu adventure at 7am. The cab we took to our hotel from the bus station in Cuzco just happened to be driven by a tour guide. He offered us a 3 day 2 night package leaving the next morning for $125 USD which seemed pretty reasonable. We decided to take it.

The next morning we were told that we would have to carry everything we took with us on a 3 hour hike (we knew about the hike but had wrongly assumed that we'd be dropping things at the hostel in Aguas Calientes first.)

So right quick we repacked and each fit three days of adventure into our Flash 18 day packs.

We then hopped into the 12 person van to head up to Machu Picchu. After picking up more people along the way, we ended up with four guys from Chile, a Peruvian family of 5, a Brazilian couple, another Peruvian and his Mexican girlfriend, and us. Okay. Maybe it was a 15 passenger van...

Off we went on the 2ish hour drive.

Five and a half hours later we stopped for lunch with a half hour left to go.

The first part of the drive was on roads through the countryside with pretty views.

Then we got to a twisty (and beautiful) mountain road.

Our driver continued on these roads like a bat out of hell, and let me tell you, Disneyland has nothing on Peruvian roads and drivers.

The twisty road you see is what existed for the 2ish hours all the way down the mountain valley

After that fun adventure we got an hour of windy, washboarded, dusty dirt road on the edge of a cliff. Again, great views.

By this point there were some people clutching plastic bags and diving for open windows. I was very glad I'm not prone to carsickness.

We arrived at Hidroelectrica, a small train station in the middle of nowhere at 4:00. From there we proceeded to hike from there to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. We just followed the train tracks until we got to town.

It was a beautiful hike, the scenery was amazing.

We only had one train pass us.

Attempted train selfie.  Two problems: the train wasn't going as fast as I thought and my head is too big.

Shay and I completed the ~12 km hike in 2.5 hours, finishing by headlamp.

Sunset above Peruvian mountains

In town we eventually found the rest of our van group as well as a guide who had our names on a piece of paper. It took a while, but we all eventually got placed in hostel rooms and got fed. We ended up in a 4 bed room with two of the Chilean guys, Cristobal and Alejandro. It was fun to talk with them, hear about Chile.

We also gave them their first taste of peanut butter (not a food that exists in Chile apparently). Neither had a favorable reaction.

Bedtime with alarms set for 3:30am to be ready to set out at 4am to start the long climb to the top.

Stay tuned for Machu Picchu: Part 2. I promise a tale of pain and triumph, beautiful pictures (lots of them), and llamas.